Tigers fall to Brookings

Posted: Friday, Sep 6th, 2013BY: MIKE CARROLL

HURON — Despite coming out on the short end of a 20-13 decision during their season opener against Brookings on Saturday, Huron coach Mike Postma says his team gained a good dose of knowledge it will use moving forward.

“We played hard and did a lot of really good things in the game,” Postma said. “We also have several things we need to improve on.

“We needed to have a game so we have film to look at to see where we are at, determine things we do well and what we need to work on,” he said. “I am very proud of the effort that the Tigers had.”

Neither team was able to score during the opening quarter. Brookings used its third possession of the game to put the first points on the board. A 42-yard run by Dayton Bender capped a four play, 45-yard scoring drive to put the Bobcats in front 7-0.

After their first four possessions resulted in punts, the Tigers received their best scoring opportunity of the opening half when Tyler Kleinsasser recovers a fumble deep in Brookings’ territory.

Huron needed just 13 yards to convert the turnover into points, but things never materialized. The Tigers moved the ball to the 4-yard line, but gave the ball back to the Bobcats on downs after being unable to convert on a fourth-and-1 situation.

Brookings, which ran just two plays on the ensuing possession carried a 7-0 advantage into the half.

The Bobcats added to their lead with the opening drive of the second half, where they used nine plays to cover 64 yards for a touchdown. Bender hauled in a 6-yard pass from Tyler Hanson to give Brookings a 14-0 lead.

The teams then traded possessions before Huron was able to put its first points on the board with a 4-yard touchdown run by Kleinsasser early in the fourth quarter to make it 14-7.

The Bobcats responded with their third touchdown of the game. A 6-yard pass from Carter Gordon to Tyler Madler capped an 11-play, 64-yard drive by Brookings to take a 20-7 lead after a missed extra point.

Huron used the ensuing possession to score its second touchdown of the game and move to within striking distance of the victory.

Quarterback Will Carr connected with Houstyn Heinz on three occasions during a seven-play, 79-yard scoring drive for the Tigers. Heinz capped the drive with a 46-yard touchdown reception. A botched snap on the extra-point attempt, which led to a failed conversion left Brookings holding a 20-13 lead.

Huron’s defensive unit forces the Bobcats to punt on their final possession to give the Tigers one last opportunity to secure the win.

After the ball was moved to the 20-yard line with the touchback on the kick, Huron could only muster 12 yards during the final seven plays of the game.

Brookings dominated with its rushing attack, gaining 220 yards on the ground, compared to 90 for the Tigers.

Devon Crandall led the Bobcats with 16 carries fro 87 yards, while Bender had four carries for 59 yards.

Brookings had just 46 yards passing. Gordon was 3 of 9 for 21 yards, while Hanson was 2 of 3 for 25 yards.

RJ Helsper led Brookings defensively with nine tackles, Cody Shepardson and Nick Hanson had six and five stops, respectively.

Huron gained 140 of its 228 yards of total offense through the air. Carr completed 8 of 14 passes.

Kleinsasser led the rushing attack for the Tigers with 18 carries for 61 yards. Carr had six carries for 43 yards and Jeremiah Johnson added 16 yards on five carries.

Heinz finished with 78 yards receiving for Huron, while Tre Henderson had 43 yards on three catches and Braedy Edleman caught one pass for 21 yards.

Conner Gose recorded 10 tackles for the Tigers, Kleinsasser had nine stops and Clay Kostel had a forced fumble.

Huron will be back in action at 7 p.m. Friday, when it hosts Brandon Valley in the homecoming game at Tiger Stadium.